GRITTY PROBLEM: Gravel in place of sand makes Day's Bay less pleasant, according to locals like John Martin.
The sand is diminishing from the beach and being replaced by a large quantity of gravel moving up the harbour from the south.
Residents have noticed the loss of sand in recent years and say they are asking the council, through the Eastbourne Community Board, to take action.
The beach is losing popularity because the sand isn’t what it used to be, says Day’s Bay Residents’ Association chairperson John Martin.
“It became obvious to the eye, I think lots of people had observed it,” he says.
“I personally had seen it by taking my grandchildren down between one summer and another and finding it had just got so much harder to even try and build sandcastles.”
GRAVEL DOMINATES: Receding sand on Day's Bay beach.
He says the association and the council agree there’s a problem identifying what’s causing the loss of sand. He has suggested the council put a concrete groyne wall at one end of the beach to hold back the gravel.
The residents want something done to “at least stop what’s going on at the moment but, better still, try and return it to the way it used to be years ago when it was a very, very sandy beach”, says Mr Martin.
Hutt City Council reserves assets manager Craig Cottrill says a report commissioned by the council, monitoring sediments at the bay, was provided to the association. Nothing has been heard back, he says.
The report says “a ‘let the system be’ management approach”.
Mr Cottrill says: “There is evidence that there is gravel shifting in a northerly direction [but] I’m not convinced there is a problem.
“We’ve been in dialogue with the Day’s Bay Residents’ Association probably for about 18 months over this issue.”
The report revealed that the gravel has been progressing northward since the 1855 earthquake and has only now reached Day’s Bay.
The gravel is likely to have been significantly reduced as a result of extensive development in the area, cutting off sediment to the beach.
NO PICNIC: Not such a fun beach.
The report’s authors, David Olsen and David Kennedy from Victoria University, also say attempts to nourish the beach with sand would have to be ongoing and expensive.
A groyne wall or removing the gravel could prove fatal because it would likely starve the beach of sediment and remove a source of sand, their report says.
Mr Cottrill says the council isn’t likely to fund a removal project as it has been advised the best thing to do is nothing, because Day’s Bay is likely to become more gravel-dominated in future.
